Latest Forest Stories
By Lily Whiteman, National Science FoundationNewly discovered ancient, mummified trees may reveal clues about future ecosystem responses to climate changeWhen in Quttinirpaaq National Park in the Canadian Arctic, Ohio State University Earth scientist Joel Barker initially spotted some pieces of dead trees scattered on the barren ground near a glacier. Immediately, he knew he had found something akin to a looking glass peering into the Arctic's ecological past.The Hazen Plateau on Ellesmere...
Over the past year, double board-certified plastic surgeon Paul M. Steinwald, MD has noted that breast lift and breast reduction procedures have become more popular than breast augmentation cases at his practice. Lake Forest, IL (PRWEB) March 5, 2011 Dr. Paul M. Steinwald (http://www.lfplasticsurgery.com/), a double board-certified plastic surgeon with offices in Lake Forest and Chicago, says breast lifts and breast reductions have recently become more popular than breast enlargement at...
Led by scientists at Woods Hole Research CenterA new study released today in the EarlyView of Ecology Letters addresses forest productivity trends in Alaska, highlighting a shift in biomes caused by a warming climate. The findings, conducted by scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center and three other institutions based in Alaska and France, linked satellite observations with an extensive and unique tree-ring data set. Patterns observed support current hypotheses regarding increased growth...
A million-dollar questionSleeping Beauty's kingdom was overgrown by vines when she fell into a deep sleep. Researchers at the Smithsonian in Panama and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee received more than a million dollars from the U.S. National Science Foundation to discover why real vines are overtaking the American tropics. Data from eight sites show that vines are overgrowing trees in all cases."We are witnessing a fundamental structural change in the physical make-up of...
A top expert with the United Nations said Wednesday that forests around the world could start expanding again within a few years. But, according to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) global study, trees are still being cut down at "alarmingly high" rates, mainly in the Amazon and Africa. FAO assistant director general Eduardo Rojas-Briales said that many new trees will only have "junk" value in the disposing of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. While the estimated 9.9...
If current climate projections hold true, the forests of the Southwestern United States face a bleak future, with more severe "“"“ and more frequent "“"“ forest fires, higher tree death rates, more insect infestation, and weaker trees. The findings by university and government scientists are published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)."Our study shows that regardless of rainfall going up or down, forests in the Southwest U.S. are...
New research indicates that the speed of early forest clearance following human colonisation of the South Island of New Zealand was much faster and more intense than previously thought.Charcoal recovered from lake-bed sediment cores show that just a few large fires within 200 years of initial colonization destroyed much of the South Island's lowland forest. Grasslands and shrubland replaced the burnt forest and smaller fires prevented forests from returning.The findings - by an international...
Review of 10 years of research suggests lessons for COP16 negotiators in Cancun: Community forest owners can reduce illegal logging, forest fires, CO2 emissions, povertyA study released today amid debate over how to reduce the loss and degradation of the world's most vulnerable forests suggests that negotiators at the upcoming UN climate change conference in Cancun should look to Mexico's forest communities for a solution.When allowed to benefit economically from their forests, forest...
Strengthens international supply of wood to serve China's wood deficit TORONTO, Nov. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Sino-Forest Corporation ("Sino-Forest" or the "Company"), a leading, commercial forest plantation operator in China, is pleased to announce today the acquisition of a New Zealand plantation and the proposed intention of Sino-Forest and its subsidiary, Omnicorp Limited ("Omnicorp"), to enter into an agreement pursuant to which, upon satisfaction of certain conditions,...
Researchers say soil in southern Oregon forest remains threatened by practices used a half century agoClear-cut logging and related road-building in the 1950s and 1960s in southern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains disrupted soil stability and led to unprecedented soil erosion made worse during heavy rainstorms, report University of Oregon researchers.While logging practices have improved dramatically since then, the damaged landscape -- the removal of low vegetation that helps to protect hillsides...
Latest Forest Reference Libraries
Clearcutting, otherwise known as clearfelling, is a controversial forestry/logging practice in which the majority or all of the trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Clearcutting, in addition to shelterwood and seed tree harvests, is utilized by foresters to construct certain types of forest ecosystems and to encourage select species that require plentiful sunlight or grow in large, even-age stands. Logging companies and forest-worker unions in certain countries support the practice for...
The Amazon Rainforest (known as Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia in Portuguese, and Selva Amazónica or Amazonia in Spanish), also known as Amazonia, or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers almost all of the Amazon Basin in South America. The basin consists of 1.7 billion acres, of which 1.4 billion acres is rainforest. This rainforest covers nine nations (Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana). Brazil contains...
Deforestation is the act or process of removing trees from forested lands by cutting or burning. There are many reasons for deforestation. Logs are sold as a commodity and cleared lands can be used for pastures and human settlements. The damage caused by deforestation, however, can be great. If land is not somewhat reforested it can cause damage to habitats for wildlife and other plant life, affect the aridity of the region, and possibly encourage degradation into wasteland. Due to negligent...
The Cacomistle (Bassariscus sumichrasti) is a nocturnal, arboreal and omnivorous species of mammal that belongs to the family Procyonidae. Its range extends from Mexico to western Panama. Its preferred habitats are wet, tropical evergreen woodlands and mountain forests. It will move seasonally to drier deciduous forests. It is not common in its natural range. It is completely dependent on forest habitat, making it susceptible to deforestation. The term cacomistle is from the Nahuatl...
